Office parties are a great way for your employees to bond, both with each other and with the management. They’re also a terrific way to reward employees for a job well done.
If your party themes have gotten a little stale and you’d like to liven things up a bit, take a look at these office party themes, both general and holiday-related.
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Unique Office Party Themes
1. Potluck
Employees sign up to bring in dishes, and then everyone enjoys a home-cooked lunch. (Bonus points if you bring in inexpensive take-out containers so that people can take home leftovers.)
No costumes or decorations are needed, just lots of outlets for the inevitable bevy of Crock Pots that will take over your office!
You could also put the “luck” in Potluck and gift each employee who brings in a dish with a scratch-off lottery ticket. The budget is low to medium, depending on if you opt to hand out lottery tickets.
2. Soup-er Bowl
Like the Potluck, employees bring in food that they’ve made, but this time, it’s all about the soup! You could even extend the definition of soup to include chili.
After everyone has had a chance to taste all the soups, have little scorecards handy where people can rank the top three. Those with the most votes win a prize.
No costumes or decorations are needed, although a Soup-er Bowl sign over the table where the food is set up wouldn’t hurt.
3. Kentucky Derby
Ladies wear hats, and men wear suspenders and bowties for this party theme, which will have everyone horsin’ around.
Decorate the office with horseshoes and flowers, especially roses (fake or otherwise), and have catering serve up sandwiches, finger foods, and little cakes, or go the other direction and get KFC.
If your office allows for it, set up a mixing table for mint juleps or a tasting of Woodford Reserve. This party’s budget is in the medium to high range, depending on how fancy you get.
4. Mardi Gras
Break out the beads for a Mard Gras-themed office party, and invite employees to bring masks and hats and their own beads to partake in the revelry.
Decorate the office in lots of green, yellow and purple, whether that’s balloons, streamers, tablecloths, ceiling danglers, etc. If it’s in your budget, have lunch catered and serve up all the Big Easy favorites: jambalaya, gumbo, beignets, and, of course, a traditional king cake!
Whoever finds the baby in their cake wins a prize! (There could be multiple prizes if you have multiple cakes, depending on how many employees you have.) This party is in the medium budget range.
5. Talent Show
Surely there are some talented people in your employee pool? Get them up on a makeshift stage and have them perform their talents for everyone. Assign three or four judges to choose first, second and third place.
Serve up finger foods – nothing too fancy is required for this party, so pizza and snacks will do just fine. Unless the act warrants it, no costumes are necessary, although why not decorate the stage with a backdrop?
This party is in the low to medium budget range, depending on how much you choose to spend on food.
6. Cinco de Mayo
For a Cinco de Mayo fiesta, consider having a taco bar, getting tacos from a local spot, or even having a taco food truck pull up during the lunch hours.
Bright colors are the order of the day, with brilliant pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, and blues – you can pick up Mexican party decorations from your local dollar store.
For the sake of not culturally appropriating, costumes are not encouraged; instead, let the decorations and food serve as the celebration. Set up a margarita station and let your employees take a half-day to imbibe (safely). Low to medium price range.
7. Dress Your Decade
A spin on the 90s, 80s, 70s, etc, throwback party, for this event, your employees will dress up representing the decade in which they were born! For a larger company with many employees in different age groups, this will be a fun way to show off their decade’s style.
Decorations aren’t necessary, but food definitely is – have people bring in food that represents their decade as well, or simply get American favorites like lasagna and chicken catered.
Run a trivia contest for each decade and award prizes to the winners for each. This party should be in the low to medium budget range.
8. Breakfast For Lunch
Encourage your employees to come dressed in their PJ best, including slippers, robes, and matching flannel sets.
Have breakfast for lunch catered, with all the classics: eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, pancakes, toast, etc. Don’t forget coffee and juice! If you’re feeling especially generous, have champagne on hand for mimosas.
Invite employees to share their morning routines; who gets up early and hits the gym? Who hits the snooze button over and over? This party is in the low to medium budget range.
9. Superheroes
Get your employees to come in costume or simply wear a t-shirt with their favorite superhero on it. Set up a wall with a cityscape and graphics that say “Bam” and “Pow” on it and invite employees to use it as a backdrop for silly photos.
For lunch, serve up “hero” sandwiches – that is, submarine sandwiches, chips and soda and order up colorful cake pops from a local bakery.
Have your employees share who their own personal superhero is; it’ll be a touching way for them to get to know each other better. This party is in the low to medium price range.
10. Day Of Games
No costumes are needed for this party, which instead focuses on all kinds of games – board games, card games, you could even set up a TV with vintage gaming systems, like N64 or GameCube.
Snacks can be basic, pizza, sandwiches, soups, chips, pretzels, cookies, etc., and you don’t need to decorate – just set up tables and load the games onto them so that employees can take their pick.
It’ll be a nice respite from the everyday drudgery of work, injecting a little fun and competition into their day instead. This can be a low to medium-budget party.
11. Game Day
Let your employees show their team spirit with jerseys and t-shirts representing their favorite sports teams (and make it a dress-down day, allowing jeans).
To decorate, put up flags, pennants, and other sports memorabilia around the office, and for lunch, serve up game day favorites: wings, pizza, mac n’ cheese, and snacks. If your office allows for it, stick beer and wine in coolers so that employees can imbibe.
For an activity, have your employees give examples of when their coworkers showed good teamwork. This party should be on the low to medium end of the budget spectrum.
12. Carnival
No costumes are needed; all your employees can come dressed as they normally do, but instead, you can turn your parking lot or a large indoor space into a carnival with plenty of booths featuring games and food.
In fact, some party planning companies will arrange the whole thing; all you have to do is show up. From caricaturists to jugglers, popcorn and hotdogs to funnel cakes and cookies, this is a great way to say “thanks for all the hard work” to your employees.
This event is in the high budget range; the larger it is and the more booths you want, the more expensive it will be.
13. St. Patrick’s Day
Let your employees be full of blarney for a St. Patrick’s Day party that is easy to put on. Encourage employees to come to work wearing green and bend the dress code a bit to include suspenders, hats, and silly socks.
Put up shamrock decorations and green and white streamers to decorate, and see if you can’t get a slow cooker of Irish stew going. If your office allows for it, serve up green beer.
Set up a scavenger hunt for employees, that leads to the pot of gold – lottery scratch-offs, company schwag, etc. This is a relatively low-key party that can be put on the low to medium-budget range.
14. Paint & Sip
No dressing up is required for a Paint & Sip party, although your employees might want to put on aprons before they embark on creating their masterpieces!
You can find a company that does Paint & Sip providers locally who provide the supplies, and you provide the food and beverages. Assemble-your-own sandwiches, finger foods, and drinks, which would be perfect accompaniments for this party.
Depending on how many employees you have (or how many sign up), this party is in the medium to high budget range.
15. The Office
Pay homage to The Office in your office; get employees to dress up as the characters, whether that’s a suit for Michael Scott or a skirt, blouse and cardigan for Pam Beesly.
Consider putting out meatballs, Sbarro Pizza, Nard-Dogs (hot dogs), and soft pretzels for lunch, and you can even follow this creator’s Cricut design for Dundie Awards.
For an activity, play some Office Olympics, like Dunderball or, if you have industrial-sized reams of paper, Flonkerton. This party is in the low to medium budget range.
16. Pi Day
On March 14, make it all about Pi. Celebrate with pizza or chicken pot pie, or shepherd’s pie, and lots of actual pies, whether homemade or store-bought.
If you wanted to get competitive and you have enough employees who bake, you could hold a pie-making contest; all your employees get a taste, they write down their favorite, and the winner gets a prize.
To decorate, put up cut-outs of pies or pieces of paper that show how extensive the 3.14 number really is. This party is in the low to medium budget range.
17. Picnic On The Grass
If you have a nice outdoor area, or you can relocate to one for the day, invite employees to join you for a picnic lunch. No costumes or decorations are necessary, though you might want a banner with your company logo to string up to mark the occasion.
Have catered picnic foods on hand, including barbecue chicken or pulled pork, mac n’ cheese, hot dogs and hamburgers, potato and macaroni salad, etc. You could hold games, like three-legged races, bocce, badminton, or even volleyball.
Depending on how many employees you have and how fancy you get with the food, beverages, and activities, this is a medium to high-budget office party.
18. Murder Mystery
One of the great things about a murder mystery party is that there are companies you can get to come in and put on the event – you don’t have to do a thing. If your employees want to dress up like they’re in Clue, well, so be it.
For foods, you can go the simple catered route, with DIY sandwiches, macaroni salad, baked beans, etc., or go for more upscale fare, like heavy hors d’oeuvres. If your company allows for it, accompany the food with beer and wine.
Because you’re hiring a company to run the event, that places this party in the medium budget range, but it could be in the high range depending on how fancy you go with food.
19. Casino Royale
Shake things up – don’t stir – with a Casino Royale-themed party for your employees, complete with cocktail attire and small games of chance.
Rent out a banquet hall and decorate it in red, black, and white, drawing on elements of playing cards and roulette for inspiration. You can even set up gaming tables for Blackjack or poker. Catering can include heavy hors d’oeuvres or even dinner, like prime rib.
This party definitely falls in the high-budget category, especially if you have many employees because the rental space alone will likely cost a pretty penny.
20. Escape Room
You can recreate an escape room in your office, or take your employees to an escape room if there is one in your city. Either way, no costumes or decorations are needed, but you may require some items if you’re doing the escape room in-office.
For food, if you’re going out to do the escape room, consider hosting your employees at a bar or restaurant after; first round of drinks and food is on you.
Depending on escape room prices and the restaurant you choose, this party will be in the medium to high budget range.
21. Food Truck Treat
Invite your employees out into the parking lot for a food truck roundup at lunchtime. Rent out three or four (or more!) food trucks for the afternoon and let employees pick from one or two each.
Put out cornhole or ladderball for everyone to play when they’re waiting for their food or after they’re done eating. If your office allows for it, put out coolers of beer and boxes of wine.
Depending on how many employees you have and how many food trucks you invite, this party will range from medium to high budget.
22. Volunteerism
Have employees sign up to do good in your community, whether it’s volunteering at a homeless shelter, a food bank, or even a pet shelter.
Bring the group back together afterward at a restaurant or the office, and cover their meals or provide catering – either way, share a meal together after an afternoon of doing good work.
Go around the table and have everyone say something that they’re grateful for that they hadn’t really considered before. This group activity will uplift and inspire. Because you’re just covering food, a volunteer day party falls in the medium to low-budget category.
23. Oktoberfest
Get your employees to break out their lederhosen and dirndls (if they have them), because you’re celebrating Oktoberfest the last week of September.
It’s really all about the food, so bratwursts, knackwursts, sauerkraut, Bavarian pretzels, apple strudel, and gingerbread cookies are the order of the day; get it catered, or if your office is small enough, have employees sign up to bring items.
Blue and white checkered tablecloths provide atmosphere, and no Oktoberfest party would be complete without a beer tasting. This party should be in the low to medium budget range.
24. Around The World
Encourage your employees to show their international roots with an Around the World party, where everyone brings in some element of their ethnicity, whether it’s a food, a doll, an article of clothing, etc.
Invite everyone to explain the meaning behind whatever they brought in, and do it over a shared meal; perhaps employees can vote on what type of food they get for lunch. Decorate the eating space with flags representing the countries from which your employees hail.
This party should stay in the low to medium budget range, depending on whether or not you get the food catered or enough people bring in food items.
25. Bonfire
If someone in management has a nice outdoor space for a bonfire, have the office over for an after-hours (non-cursory) party, complete with smores, hot dogs, and beer.
Employees can come dressed down, and they should be encouraged to bring their own chair, plus any treats to share.
This is a low-budget way of gathering the employees of your office together for some quality bonding time; you could even expand it and make it open to employees’ families, too.
26. Employee Superlatives
Book a private room in a restaurant and invite your employees to their version of the Academy Awards. Hand out superlatives, like “Most Likely To Be The Last One In The Office” and “Most Likely To Steal Office Supplies” or “Best At Giving Presentations.”
Dress is casual, but if you want to amp up the event, make it cocktail chic. And have little awards made ahead of time to hand out.
This party should be in the medium budget range, but if you have a lot of employees or you choose a fancier restaurant, it could go into the high range.
27. Team Trivia
Last call for know-it-alls! Turn your office into a team trivia contest, with nine or 10 rounds of general knowledge trivia. There are tons of programs out there that you can buy, with questions, answer sheets, etc.
For food, keep it simple, with subs and soup, snacks and finger foods, plus soda and juice. No costumes or decorations are necessary, just your employees’ brainpower.
This party is on a low to medium budget, depending on how many employees you have, what trivia pack you buy, and where you opt to get your food from.
28. Scavenger Hunt
Have your employees set aside their afternoon for a scavenger hunt, either on the company property grounds (if it’s large enough) or around your city/town.
Items can be loosely related to your company (e.g., a picture of a car with a dent in it, if you’re an insurance company) or to your city.
Award prizes for first, second, and third-place teams who arrive back at HQ with all the items completed on the list. Provide lunch for all the returning employees. This party is in the medium budget range.
29. Karaoke Night
Rent a karaoke machine or head out to a karaoke bar for a fun night of singing, eating, and drinking. Prepare a special award for the Best In Song, voted on by the loudest cheers.
Cover two rounds of drinks and food if at a bar, or provide catering and adult beverages if at the office; there’s really no decoration or costumes necessary for this party.
A Karaoke Night party is about in the medium budget range, but it could go high depending on how many employees you have.
30. Bring Your Dogs To Work Day
For offices with zero allergies, employees are encouraged to bring their leashed, well-behaved dogs to work with them for a paw-ty.
Provide refreshments for both humans and canines, and make sure there are plenty of water bowls on hand for the latter. Don’t plan on getting much work done but do perhaps have a doggie costume contest or parade.
Make up little gift bags for the dogs, with Milk-Bones, bandanas, and leashes. This puppy party is in the low to medium price range, depending on what food and drink you provide and how expensive you go with the doggie treat bags.
Christmas Office Party Themes
When you want to get into the holiday cheer and perhaps reward your employees for all the good work they’ve done the previous year, consider one of these Christmas office party themes.
1. Ugly Christmas Sweater
Everyone wears the ugliest Christmas – or any winter holiday, whether it’s Hannukah, Kwanzaa, etc. – sweater they can find! Many laughs are had over this in-office party, which could also include holiday socks as part of the ensembles.
Put up a tree and hang holiday decorations, like ornaments and stocking cutouts. Have lunch catered, serving up holiday classics like lasagna, turkey and green beans, and let employees unwind with a beer or wine.
Have employees vote for the Ugliest Christmas Sweater and have an award for them. This party is in the low to middle range for budget.
2. Winter Wonderland
Rent out a banquet hall or room for an evening of dinner and dancing, with cocktail chic as the dress code – dresses for the ladies and suits for the men.
Serve up buffet-style prime rib, turkey or ham (or fish) with all the sides, and hire a charcuterie specialist to put together a table for employees to snack on throughout the night. Dress up the space with snowflake cutouts and lots of white and blue.
Encourage employees to bust a move on the dance floor, whether it’s to a DJ or a live band. This party will no doubt be in the high budget range.
3. Secret Santa
Have employees write down their names and a few gift ideas, then put all the names into a hat and have everyone draw one. Put a price limit on the gifts — $10, $20, $50, etc.
On the day of the gift exchange/party, decorate the office with red and green, put out a spread of food and drink, and have everyone put their gift under a Christmas tree. Appoint one person as head of ceremonies and have them pull gifts for each person to open.
Make a game of it – who can guess which employee is their Secret Santa? This party should fall in the low to medium budget range, depending on how much food you need to get.
4. Holiday Movie Night
Gather your employees for a night of holiday movie magic. If you have a room large enough to accommodate everyone, set up a projector and point it at a big wall. Encourage employees to bring their families, too, if there is room.
Serve up pizza and snacks, but also hot cocoa and candy canes. Decide if you want everyone to sit in seats or bring blankets and pillows and sit on the floor. Show a classic film like It’s A Wonderful Life or a more contemporary movie, like Elf.
This party could easily be done on a low budget, but if you want to elevate the snacks, it could run you up to the medium-budget space.
5. Check Out The Lights
Host a “Light your cubicle” contest, with the winner voted on and awarded on the last day before everyone leaves for Christmas break.
Turn down the main office lighting to really let the Christmas displays glow. Put out party food, like pizza or subs, or go fancier with a hot catered lunch.
The winner of the contest gets a gift certificate to an eatery or local attraction; you could also get second and third-place awards, too. This party can be put on in the low to medium budget range.
Halloween Office Party Themes
Come spooky season, your office might want to throw a Halloween-themed party but not know in which direction to go. Here are some ideas to get you started.
1. Zombified
Make your employees yearn for “braaainnns” with a Zombified party, marked by zombie make-up and dress-up, and even a zombie walk contest, with the winner being awarded a prize.
Put out food, and if you’re feeling really creative, make it look like brains or body parts (just don’t get too gruesome) or other spooky creatures, like spiders. Decorate the walls with fake blood and caution tape.
This party should fall in the low to medium budget range, depending on how in-depth you get with decorations and food.
2. Monster Mash
Encourage your employees to dress up as any of the classic monsters: mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein, a witch, a werewolf, or even Swamp Thing. The best costume gets a prize, whether that’s a gift card or the ability to leave early on any day they want.
Decorate the office with cutouts of all the different monsters, and put out a spread that includes things like cake pop eyeballs or Frankenstein fingers (pretzels dipped in green frosting and tipped with an almond for the fingernail).
This party could easily be done in the low budget range, but if you decide to get catering for lunch, it could range up to the medium.
3. Heroes & Villains
Get your employees to come dressed up as their favorite movie hero or villain, whether it’s an Avenger from the Marvel Cinematic Universe or Dr. Evil from Austin Powers. Dress up the office with balloons and streamers in multiple colors, plus cutouts that say “Bam” and “Pow.”
The food spread can be simple but delicious – subs, otherwise known as “Heroes,” deviled eggs (for the bad guys), or even a charcuterie board made to look like Captain America’s shield.
If your employees aren’t up to making and bringing in food (or you have a lot of employees), getting catering will make this party fall in the medium budget range. Otherwise, it’s a fairly inexpensive party to throw.
4. Pumpkin Carving
Set up pumpkin carving stations for your employees, complete with a selection of pumpkins, designs, and carving knives. If you have an oven or can bring in a toaster oven, you can also toast the seeds for a snack.
Employees should probably wear aprons, so keep some of those on hand. And why not provide apple cider and donuts as refreshments?
At the end of the party, put lights inside the carved pumpkins and turn off the office lights so you can admire everyone’s work. This is a nice, low-budget party that is perfect for Halloween.
5. Haunted Office
For a big-budget spend that is sure to send thrills down your employees’ spines, consider turning part of your office into a haunted house. Working in tandem with an event planning company, you can set up a spooky haunted takeover that employees will enter – if they dare!
In addition to the haunted office, your event planner will likely also have ideas for food and drink, as well as decoration.
Obviously, this party will cost a pretty penny, but if it’s in your budget, why not splurge as a way of saying “Thanks” to your employees for all their hard work.
Summer Office Party Themes
When your employees are stuck working during the sunniest time of the year, make it at least a bit more bearable with any of these summer party themes.
1. Under The Sea
Take a page from Ariel and celebrate summer with an Under the Sea theme, complete with seaweed decorations, fish cutouts, and even streamers hung from the ceiling to represent the ocean blue.
Let your employees nosh on sushi, Goldfish crackers, or tuna salad sandwiches, and serve up blue punch from a big fishbowl. Set up a kiddie pool with magnetic fish and magnetic fishing poles and have employees “go fish” for prizes.
Depending on how much you want to spend on food and prizes, this party could potentially range up to the medium budget level.
2. To The Beach
Let your employees break out the sunhats, shorts, t-shirts, and sandals for a beachy day. Fill kiddie pools with sand and hold a sandcastle-making contest or set up a net and play beach volleyball in the parking lot.
Grill hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch, and bring in sides like macaroni salad, potato salad, and coleslaw.
A beach-themed party will likely fall in the medium budget range, but could possibly be done at the low-budget end, too.
3. Hawaiian Luau
Nothing conjures up paradise like Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts, and leis; the former your employees can wear at their discretion, and the latter two you can have on hand for the festivities.
Put up palm tree decorations, lots of tropical flowers, and pineapple cutouts, and use tiki masks as your centerpieces. Set out trays of fruit and find a caterer who does kebabs and makes platters in the shape of pineapples.
Bring in a musician to perform songs on the ukulele or get everyone playing some luau party games. This party will fall in the medium budget range.
4. Dog Days Of Summer
This summer party, held during the hottest days of the year, is gone to the dogs, with dog balloons, figurines for the food table, and pup cutouts for the walls.
Have someone bake bone-shaped brownies and put out bowls of “puppy chow” (or Muddy Buddy, as it’s also known).
Also, if no one is allergic, consider inviting employees’ four-legged friends to the paw-ty and have a doggie costume contest! This party should stay in the low to medium budget range.
5. Christmas In July
Make Christmas come early – halfway, that is, with a Secret Santa or Yankee gift swap. Crank up the A/C and have employees come in their ugliest Christmas sweaters and socks; see if anyone has a Santa costume lying around that they would be willing to wear.
Make the food spread all about holiday comfort, from lasagna or other pasta dishes, to prime rib or ham.
Decorate a Christmas tree and string up lights. This party will fall in the medium budget range.
Thanksgiving Office Party Themes
Thanksgiving is an important holiday that is all about recognizing the good in your life. Help your employees get in the Thanksgiving spirit with one of these party themes.
1. Traditional Thanksgiving Feast
Take the afternoon off for a traditional Thanksgiving feast, whether you have an oven in the office for baking a turkey or you get the whole meal catered. What matters is that everyone has a seat at the table and shares a meal.
Set the table (or tables) with traditional tablecloths, dish sets, and napkins, and place centerpieces and even candles.
Go around the table and say one thing you’re grateful for, or have employees anonymously submit them and read them aloud. This party is in the low to medium budget range.
2. Pie Swap
Have everyone bring in a pie of their choosing, set them up on a table, and cut them into thin slices so that everyone can try a piece. Bring inexpensive plastic containers so that anyone can take home leftovers.
You can supplement all the sugar with classic burgers and fries or stay in the “pie” theme with pizza.
Because everyone is contributing a pie, this party can be achieved in the low budget range.
3. Food Bank Drive
Run a nonperishable food drive throughout the month of November, with a special day where you drop off the food at the food bank.
Make it competitive with a contest – the department that brings in the most food, wins. After dropping off the food, celebrate Thanksgiving with some catering back at the office.
This party should fall in the low to medium budget range, depending on how much you can spend on catering and how many employees you have.
Virtual Office Party Themes
Whatever the reason, your team works from home, that doesn’t preclude office parties. Here are some ideas to get you started on your virtual shindig.
1. Happy Hour
What could be more classic than a basic Happy Hour? Set aside two hours and a Zoom meeting room for everyone to mix up their favorite alcoholic beverage or crack open a beer.
If employees want to make it fancy, let them dress up; if employees want to be comfortable, let them dress down in PJs and a bathrobe – it’s anything goes.
Play icebreaker games so that everyone can get to know each other better, or send your employees on a virtual – tipsy – scavenger hunt.
2. Dance Party
See who’s got the moves with a virtual dance party! Curate a playlist of all the best dance songs and let those who wish to boogie down on camera bust a move.
You could even reward the best dancers (or anyone brave enough to dance!) with virtual gift cards to Starbucks or Dunkin.
Since you’re going to be playing famous dance hits, this would also be a good time to play “What’s the next line?” with the music.
3. Meme Dress-Up
All your employees dress up as one of their favorite memes, whether it’s open-mouthed Pikachu, Bernie Sanders at the 2021 Inauguration, or two employees working in a tangent for the screaming pointing lady and white hissy cat.
Go one by one and have your employees pose as the meme they chose; then, everyone tries to guess which one they’re representing.
At the end, have everyone vote for their favorite; the winner gets a prize. You could also encourage your employees to share their favorite work-related memes in the chat!
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